tourdeep
New
DUBLIN, Ohio (Reuters) - Beefed-up bunkers at the Memorial tournament drew a mixed player response after Thursday's opening round, Phil Mickelson describing them as fair and Nick Price as pot luck.
Backed by the PGA Tour, Memorial host Jack Nicklaus has arranged for all the bunkers on the par-72 Muirfield Village layout to be raked in an unconventional way to make sand escapes something of a lottery.
"It's fair for everybody, and everybody has to play it," U.S. Masters champion Mickelson told reporters after opening with a three-under-par 69.
"I don't think the bunkers are a problem. The only thing is, you can't spin it. The ball comes out fine, but you can't spin it. As long as you're short of the hole, you're okay."
In a bid to make bunkers more of a penalty this week, Nicklaus introduced a long-toothed, widely spaced rake which creates furrows to make recoveries from the sand more difficult.
"Nowadays all the bunkers are so perfect, there's no penalty any more," the 18-times major winner said at the start of the week. "Bunkers are really supposed to be a penalty.
"All I'm trying to do is make the guy think he doesn't want to be in the bunker, and it's not the place to aim for."
UNHAPPY PRICE
However, former world number one Price was unhappy with the ploy.
"I heard someone say earlier in the week that this is the way that they used to rake bunkers way back when and bunkers have always been hazards," the Zimbabwean said after carding a 69.
"I think the difference now is that the greens are running at 13 or 14 (in putting speed). Back in the bygone era, when they did it before, the greens were probably running at about six.
"It's different hitting out of a bunker to a green where you've got no chance to get any spin on the ball. So I disagree with it. I don't like it at all.
"I don't think there's one player out here that does. It's a bit of pot luck, to be honest.
"You can get in there and have a perfect lie when it lands on top of a groove, then you can have another one that goes in the trough, in the bottom of it, and you've got no chance."
Ernie Els, one of the best bunker players in the game, also registered disapproval.
NO SHOT
"You're either lucky or unlucky," the South African world number six said after three bogeys in the last four holes gave him a first-round 74. "If you're unlucky, you have no shot, basically.
"I don't care how good of a bunker player you are, you have no shot. But I guess that's what they want."
American Sean O'Hair, who set the tournament pace with a five-under-par 67 before play was suspended because of an afternoon thunderstorm, agreed with Mickelson.
"A trap is a trap, it's a hazard," said O'Hair. "You're not supposed to be there.
"The bunkers here are not hidden, you know where they are. So don't hit it there. If you don't hit it there, you don't have to worry about it."
(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles)
http://in.sports.yahoo.com/060602/137/64qbj.html
Backed by the PGA Tour, Memorial host Jack Nicklaus has arranged for all the bunkers on the par-72 Muirfield Village layout to be raked in an unconventional way to make sand escapes something of a lottery.
"It's fair for everybody, and everybody has to play it," U.S. Masters champion Mickelson told reporters after opening with a three-under-par 69.
"I don't think the bunkers are a problem. The only thing is, you can't spin it. The ball comes out fine, but you can't spin it. As long as you're short of the hole, you're okay."
In a bid to make bunkers more of a penalty this week, Nicklaus introduced a long-toothed, widely spaced rake which creates furrows to make recoveries from the sand more difficult.
"Nowadays all the bunkers are so perfect, there's no penalty any more," the 18-times major winner said at the start of the week. "Bunkers are really supposed to be a penalty.
"All I'm trying to do is make the guy think he doesn't want to be in the bunker, and it's not the place to aim for."
UNHAPPY PRICE
However, former world number one Price was unhappy with the ploy.
"I heard someone say earlier in the week that this is the way that they used to rake bunkers way back when and bunkers have always been hazards," the Zimbabwean said after carding a 69.
"I think the difference now is that the greens are running at 13 or 14 (in putting speed). Back in the bygone era, when they did it before, the greens were probably running at about six.
"It's different hitting out of a bunker to a green where you've got no chance to get any spin on the ball. So I disagree with it. I don't like it at all.
"I don't think there's one player out here that does. It's a bit of pot luck, to be honest.
"You can get in there and have a perfect lie when it lands on top of a groove, then you can have another one that goes in the trough, in the bottom of it, and you've got no chance."
Ernie Els, one of the best bunker players in the game, also registered disapproval.
NO SHOT
"You're either lucky or unlucky," the South African world number six said after three bogeys in the last four holes gave him a first-round 74. "If you're unlucky, you have no shot, basically.
"I don't care how good of a bunker player you are, you have no shot. But I guess that's what they want."
American Sean O'Hair, who set the tournament pace with a five-under-par 67 before play was suspended because of an afternoon thunderstorm, agreed with Mickelson.
"A trap is a trap, it's a hazard," said O'Hair. "You're not supposed to be there.
"The bunkers here are not hidden, you know where they are. So don't hit it there. If you don't hit it there, you don't have to worry about it."
(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles)
http://in.sports.yahoo.com/060602/137/64qbj.html
